Vodafone moves HQ to London

Vodafone is moving its global headquarters to London, almost 20 years after the group started life in the provincial market town of Newbury in Berkshire.

Vittorio Colao, chief executive of the world’s largest mobile phone operator by revenue, will move in October from the company’s Newbury campus to an office in Paddington. Other members of the senior management team are also moving.

The changes are not part of Vodafone’s efforts to cut costs in the recession. Vodafone, explaining the reasons for the move, said management would be closer to the company’s business partners and shareholders.

Italian-born Colao is Vodafone’s fourth chief executive, and he will be the first to be based in London rather than Newbury. Colao, whose home is in London, already works in the capital regularly. He uses the company’s office in Park Lane, together with Sir John Bond, Vodafone chairman.